My brother Thomas and I decided to make the trip up to Martinsburg, WVA to take a look at this car.  We left straight from work, and 3 hours (and several winding backroads) later we had arrived.  The owner uncovered the car, and we searched high and low for some indication of what the original paint color may have been  We were almost hoping to find a trace of vintage burgundy or poppy red, something that would justify that this car was not originally pink.

As it turned out, the original paint did indeed seem to be pink.  The gentleman was asking $11,500, and based on the shape of the car, the price certainly seemed fair.  I had brought Thomas along with me to help me examine the car in detail, and get his instinct on it.  There was a litle bit of bondo sitting in the drivers rear quarter (common), but the floor pans seemed fair, the engine ran and idled well, but the convertible top was pretty much shot.

The owner said that the top needed a new rear curtain, but closer inspection showed several small stress tears, and excessive rubbing on the interior.  I was confident at this point that the car was genuine, but I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to get involved with a “chick’s car”.  I thanked the owner and started the 3 hour drive home.

The owner informed me that he had 3 people coming the next day, and if I wanted it, I needed to make a move quickly.  On the drive home, I started estimating the price of making it driveable:

Retuning, New Top, New Steeing Wheel, Paint Touch-up, New Trim, New Carpet, New Wheel Inserts, New Seat Belts, Rust Remediation, and a Power Steering Leak.

Overall, not a terrible list.  Slightly expensive (The top alone would be $1,300), but most of the work I could do myself, so I just need the money for parts.  Even after all of the work was done, I suspected that I could still come out ahead.

Rule #1 (For me, at least) is that I don’t get into a car project that I suspect I’m going to loose money on.  Maintenance costs are one thing, but I don’t want to spend $30,000 on a classic car that I can’t break even on.  I look at classics as an investment!

The numbers seemed to work on the car, so 9am the next morning I called the owner back and offered him $10,000.  I explained that because of the surface rust pockets coming up I’m forced to do some decent preservation work, and the top is more or less shot (getting stuck in the rain with a topless car stinks).

He agreed to the price, and I dropped off a deposit check.  I got back up there a week later, trailer in tow, and brought the mustang home.  I stopped at a gas station on the way back, and ended up with a crowd of people around the car shocked to see the pink mustang on the trailer.  Any car that can grab that sort of attention at 11pm is worth getting in my book!